Heelless overshoe.



C. S. GOODYEAR.

HEELLESS OVERSHOE. APPLICATION FILED JULYIO. 1914.

wan mama W RM Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLINTON S. GOODYEAR, OF NAUGATUCK, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR. TO L. CANDEE &

I COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

HEELLESS OVERSHOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 10, 1914-. Serial No. 850,161.

T 0 all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, CLINTON S. GOODYEAR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Naugatuck, county of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heelless Overshoes, of which the following is a'full, clear, and exact disclosure.

My invention relates to rubber overshoes, and more specifically to overshoes of the heelless type, and has foran object to pro vide a 'heelless overshoe which will not slip down at the back upon the inner shoe over which it is worn.

The counter of the ordinary heelless overshoe is constructed to tightly fit the counter of the inner shoe so that friction with the inner shoe counter will hold ity in place. It has been found, however, that such frictiorial engagement is ineffectual in accom plishing its purpose, for when the wearer steps forward in walking the leather. shoe has a tendency to push forwardin the toe of the overshoe and thereby slacken the counter, which consequently works down and must be pulled upfrom time to time. To obviate this annoyance, I provide the elastic counter of the overshoe with an integral elastic thickened foothold which ex-a tends above the top cdgeaof the counter and hasits excessive thickness disposed inwardly of the inner face of the counter. As a result of this construction the foothold will [it above the stiff counter of the inner shoe upon which it may be worn, and due to its increased thickness will have greater tension under the same amount of stretch than the counter, thereby promoting the protrusion of the stiff counter underneath the foothold to support the foothold against slipping down, the tight seating of the foothold abovethe stifi' counter being enhanced by the excessive thickness of the foothold existing inwardly of theinner face of the elastic counter.

Theinvention will be readily understood from the following description, reference being to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure iis aside elevation of a ladys shoe equipped with an overshoe embodying inventi n; is a side elevation of th is". F n which the overshoe is built,

1 shown thereon in section; unitary cross-sectional view Referring to the drawing, ladys shoe to which the heelle'ss overshoe 10 is applied. The overshoe comprises-a lining ll, avamp-12, a so le 13 which terminates at the rear end in a shank 14, a'counter 15 the bottom edge 16 of which is free and shank in forming a heel opening, and a foothold 18 which extends above the top edge of the. counter. The counter corresponds in shape throughout to the shape of the stiff counter of the inner shoecver which the overshoe may be worn, that is, its upper edge is designed to-follow along and conform to the entire edge contour of said stiff counter. The foothold and counter arepreferably formed of a-single blank iof material,- the foothold being of greater thickness. than the counter, and the excessive' thicknes's of the foothold being disposed inwardly'of the in nor face of the counter so that theouter face of the counter and the outerfaoe of the foot-'. hold are substantially flush with each other.

-18 on the outer face, preferably formed in tegral with the foothold by engravings on Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

9 designates a 'co-acts with the free rear'edge 17 of the the calender roll when-the foothold is made.

' These beads serve to stiffen" the I foot hold I .against stretching at the top edge and at the juncture, of the foothold with the counter and provide an additional means independent of the thickness of the foothold, for

causing the foothold at localizedportions to bind against the inner. shoe.- Furthermore the bead 18" serves as a guide along which the counter may be severed from the foothold when mutilated, leaving the overshoeequipped with a foothold similar to the ordinary foothold overshoe.

In building the overshoe the liningll, vamp 12, sole13 and counter 15 with the attached foothold 18, are assembled upon a last 19, the same having a depression. 20 in the vamp'to receive the excess thickness of the foothold. The inner wall of this recess gradually merges into the sides ofthe shank of the last and as a result of this the vamp and foothold will conform smoothly to the innershoe shank or instep. The lining 11 is terminated slightly in the rear of the shank of the sole, as shown at 21, the twofold object of this being to leave the lower edge'of the foothold completely exposed to better seat above the stiff counter of the inner shoe and to strengthen the joint at the stretch than the elastic counter, whereby the strain is concentrated upon the foot hold. The pressure of the foothold will promote the tendency of the counter to pro.- trude underneath the foothold and support the latter against slipping down, as best shown in Fig. 3, the tight seating of the foothold above the stiff counter being enhanced by the excessive thickness of the foothold existing inwardly of the inner face of the elastic counter.

While I have described and illustrated a heelless overshoe embodying a counter and foothold attached to the counter, I do not limit myself to this construction, it beingonly essential to the practice of my invention that the back of a heelless overshoe be so constructed as to fit the inner shoe tightly above its counter and fit smoothly over the inner shoe counter.

' Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An overshoe having an elastic counter adapted to fit and conform to the outline of the counter of the inner shoe over which it may be worn, and an elastic foothold ex tending above the top edge of the elastic counter and adapted to lit the inner shoe above its counter, the foothold being integral with and of greater thickness than the clas tic counter, and due to its increased thickness having greater tension under the same amount of stretch as the elastic counter, whereby the strain is concentrated upon the foothold when the over-shoe is in use, and a bead integral with the outer face of the foothold at its joint with the counter and stiffening the foothold at said joint to bind to the outline of the stiff counter of the inner shoe over which the overshoe may be worn, and a foothold extending above the top edge of the counter, said foothold being integral with the counter and of greater thickness than the counter, the excessive thickness of the foothold existing inwardly of the inner face of the counter, and the outer faces of the foothold and the counter being substantially flush with each other, and a. bead integral with the outer face of the foothold at its joint with the counter and stiffening the foothold at said joint to bind against the inner shoe above the edge of the inner shoe counter and forming a guidealong which the counter may be severed from the overshoe when mutilated.

3. A rubber overshoe embodying a vamp, a sole terminating at the rear end in a shank, a counter, the bottom edge of the counter and the rear edge of the shank being free and co-acting in defining the heel opening, said counter corresponding in shape to the shape of the stiff counter of the inner shoe over which the overshoe may be worn, a foothold integral with the counter, vamp, and shank, and being of greater thickness thanthe counter, tlrejoint between the foothold and counter being adapted to lie above and conform to the entire edge contour of the inner shoe stifi' counter, and a bead disposed exterior-1y of and reinforcing said joint and forming a guide along which the counter may be severed from the over-shoe when mutilated.

' Signed at New York, county of New York, State of New York, this 2 day of July, 1914.

CLINTON S. GOODYEAR. 

